Saturday, 10 October 2015

Plinth, continued

I haven't moved much further during the past week. Except I have, physically. As I was planning to lift the dollhouse onto the plinth, there were several logistics issues I had to deal with. I had once again emptied the main house of almost everything, taping and white-tacking as much as I could. The plinth stood in the middle of the room, in front of the house on the coffee table. I figured out that I would put the main house on a computer table that I use as my workbench, then wheel it to the side, move the basement onto the plinth, remove the coffee table, move the plinth with the basement back toward the window, wheel the computer table out in front of the plinth, then lift the house onto the basement. Easy.

However, I realised that it was more or less the final move, and did I really want this huge house blocking my window forever? Mounted on the plinth, it would completely obscure the light. I had never contemplated this problem because I had always viewed the house as a temporary project rather than a permanent piece of furniture which it was about to become. You don't precisely put a cupboard in front of a window.

My hobby room triples as my study and guest room. It means that I have my workbench, all my dollhouse supplies and tools in this room, but also my writing desk and my bookcase (true, with more dollhouse supplies than books), and there is also a sofa bed that needs to be unfolded when we have people staying with us.

I started, first mentally, then physically, moving furniture around. At one point, I thought I had a solution, but then I remembered that the dollhouse had fronts that open more than half a meter on each side, so in fact the house demanded additional 120 cm width. I moved the sofa over to the window. moved the plinth to the opposite wall, wheeled the computer table to the middle of the room and went to bed. I was an emotional wreck. I cursed the moment I decided to buy this house. I cursed myself for being such an idiot to indulge in a space-demanding hobby.

It took me a couple of days to recover. In the daytime, I went to work, and in the evenings, I pretended the room didn't esist. Of course, it was also crammed with boxes full of dollhouse objects and more boxes full of supplies that had lived under the computer table. Then gradually I started sitting on the sofa every now and then, staring at the house on the computer table, trying to imagine how it would look to an outsider or a guest.

Then I moved the house on top of the basement, and it was done. I decided not to worry about it any more. (I am not even sure that I will ever be able to take the house out of the room, but I.Will. Not. Worry. About. It. Now.)

The fronts are not hinged, and of course the front stairs are not built yet. If you want to look into the attic, you need to use kitchen steps. But it's better than lying on your belly to look at the basement.